


Oasis

by Client327



Category: Ride or Die (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26167057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Client327/pseuds/Client327
Summary: Mona wins
Relationships: Mona/Main Character (Ride or Die)
Kudos: 6
Collections: Ride or Die Appreciation Week





	Oasis

**Author's Note:**

> PB owns all of this. I’ve been working on this for a really long time and I’m excited to finally share this. I think this will be between 3-5 parts. We’ll see. Anyway, Candace is the MC I created for Mona, and I love her already.

_Mona saw her own history play out across Candace’s features as the truth of Logan’s manipulation was made known to her. This was too familiar. She has known that exact pain. It has kept her up at night, ruined her mascara, and has been an anchor on her heart holding her down._

_Suddenly, everything made sense and her throat closed up with a familiar choking sensation. Her eyes slid to Teppei amidst the uproar, everything else faded around her. She was getting closer to him but couldn’t feel her legs moving. The pieces connected in Teppei’s mind before she even reached him and he gripped her arm and pulled her roughly into his office._

_“Not right now, Mona.”_

_She wrenched her arm out of his grasp, “What did you do, Teppei? Was any of it real? Was she on your crew too?” She had come to terms with her ex’s betrayal, but this new revelation about Logan reopened all those old wounds and connected a missing piece that Mona didn’t even realize was missing._

_“You should calm down.” He took a step towards her before the flames in her eyes stopped him._

_“Fuck. You.” She moved sharply into his space. “Is this your big play? You lure people into your crew with promises of, what? Love and devotion?” Her voice was calmer that she felt._

_Teppei’s silence was too telling and Mona breathed out a mirthless laugh. The air was thick with her accusation. She honestly believed that her ex had at least cared for her in the beginning even though she had ended up selling her out. She never thought that she could have been a plant in her life; a tool to coax her into this life. Mona wonder briefly how much she got in exchange for ruining her life._

_“Does it matter now? Knowing isn’t going to change anything. It’s in the past.” He spit the words at her, exerting all the power he held between the two._

_“I am still living it every day!” Her heart beat like a drum in her chest adding to the concoction of chaos already mixing inside her. “You have stolen everything from me. For what? You needed another naive lacky on your team? And now Candace? What the fuck is wrong with you?”_

_Teppei returned his grip to her arm and jerked her forward with a sneer, “Do you honestly think you would have amounted to anything outside of this kind of life? You were naive and vulnerable before I made you who you are now.”_

_His delusion worked her into a sobering calm. Maybe she had been naive, but this would be the last time, “You really are pathetic, huh? You’ve convinced everyone that you are someone to be feared, but you’re just a coward preying on low hanging fruit to get where you want to be in life.”_

_Mona jerked her arm out of his grasp and took a step towards the door, “You’re so concerned about your legacy, Kaneko? What exactly is that going to look like when the only people left to tell your story are those of us that you’ve stepped on to get to the top?”_

_She stared at him for as long as he dared to maintain eye contact. Hate and fear mingled in his gaze, and Mona soaked up the latter before turning to open the door. She turned back one more time before exiting, “I promise you that the Kaneko name will not survive in my hands.” Something in her eyes made him believe her as she exited and let the door click gently shut._

* * *

The sound of her fingernails frantically clicking together was the only thing that broke the monotonous sound of traffic passing through Gramercy Park. The sun had just begun to rise, peeking over the top of the newly remodeled Kaneko Autobody. The streets were painted in romantic shades of purple and pink that Mona might have found fitting of this reunion had the setting been different.

She’d thought of this moment hundreds of times while locked up. The feel of Candace’s skin under her finger tips, the tickle of her hair against Mona’s face when they kissed, the desperate way she would stare at her from across a room; it was all she wanted, but not here. Mona had never wanted to see this place again. Long before prison sentences, gun shot wounds, and falling in love, this place had been its own kind of holding cell. 

Her indenture to Teppei had been misleading from the start, and she now knew that she would have never been free from it without his death or her own. She could only hope that Candace hadn’t found herself in a similar situation.

She chewed anxiously on the inside of her cheek and shifted her weight back to the left foot. As soon as she found out that she was being released, she had paid everything left in her commissary for information on Candace’s whereabouts. It hadn’t taken long for her to hear back that she was in the first place she suspected and the last that she had hoped she would be. Maybe if she hadn’t been here, had been at Langston instead, Mona could have convinced herself to stay away. It would be a lie to say that a small part of her wasn’t thankful for the excuse to step in and mess up Candace’s plans; hopefully for the better this time. 

The sun was fully over the rooftops of the buildings now and Mona had to squint to keep her eyes trained on the garage doors that she had pushed through numerous times before. She liked to think that she wasn’t that person anymore, wasn’t so jaded or numbed by her circumstances. She wasn’t naive enough to look past the opportunity she had at her feet now; she was free for the first time since before being locked up all those years ago in high school and she wasn’t going to throw that away easily. Yet, she was certain she wasn’t supposed to be this far out of her probation area, but Mona couldn’t be convinced to play by _all_ the rules. 

She pivoted her foot to leave for the sixth time that day, and maybe this would have been the time she actually did it; she would never find out. Mona was frozen in place by the clamoring of the garage door opening across the street. Her heart seized in her chest as she watched the inside of the garage come slowly into view. Wheels and tires were visible first along with feet shuffling busily around the shop. Sunbeams danced along the chrome accents of the car, sending flashes of light in every direction. The cool blue of Candace’s car came into view long before her face did, but it still didn’t prepare her for the emotions that would come with catching a glimpse of her deep brown eyes.

She was laughing at something and the sound almost carried over to where Mona was clinging to the brick wall for balance. Or maybe it did reach her, but the only sound she could hear was the drumming of her heartbeat in her ears. 

She was so close. 

And it took every bit of restraint she had to keep from darting across the street to her. Had it not been for Colt stepping into view and pulling her attention to something on his phone, she might have. Rage bubbled in her chest like she had never felt before. How could she still be running with him after what he put them all through? How could she have stayed when Mona had sacrificed so much to provide a way out for her?

They hadn’t talked or communicated in any way since her arrest; exactly what Mona had wanted, but the trade-off was supposed to be Candace moving on and following her dreams. Not this. 

The Kanekos had shown such a blatant disregard for everyone in the Mercy Park Crew, Candace included. Mona’s mind was racing for an explanation of what would have kept her here all this time. She knew how easily you could get trapped in this life. 

Across the street, Colt slid into the passenger side of the car while Candace drove. The engine purred to life, pulling Mona from her thoughts. She pressed her back against the alley wall to keep from being seen as she watched them pull out of the garage and disappear around the block. Her head fell back hard against the brick once they were out of sight and the pain was a welcome distraction from what she was feeling in her chest. She lifted her head and hit it against the wall behind her again and again before giving herself a moment of peace. 

Mona needed to get out of here. She wanted to take Candace with her. The question of whether she would come with her or not was too painful to consider right now. She ran her hands down the length of the government issued shirt to steal her nerves. The trip to Los Angeles had been made without any real plan, money, clothes, or a place to stay. She had some planning to do before she could make her move. 

She needed to talk to Candace, but not like this. Mona would lie in wait for now. _Like a snake_ , she thought to herself; tightly coiled and ready to strike.


End file.
